Secure credit card with near field communications

ABSTRACT

A near field communication device included in a secure transaction card provides an addition and/or transitional communication link for communicating secure transaction information. The near field communication device may be selectively engaged or disengaged and, when engaged, either active or passive modes of operation of the near field communication device can be selected. in the active mode, secure transaction information is transmitted upon establishment of a communication link with a complementary near field communication device. In the passive mode, secure transaction information is transmitted upon interrogation from a complementary near field communication device. Secure transaction information is generated and stored for transmission in a memory and at least a portion of the memory is erased or nulled upon transmission or upon expiration of a selected period of time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to so-called smart cards and,more particularly to alternative uses of highly securecredit/identification cards and, more particularly, to providing suchfunctions through a near field communications infrastructure.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Proliferation of fraudulent activities such as identity theft, oftenfacilitated by streamlining of electronic financial transactions and theproliferation of credit and debit cards often used in such transactions,has led to great interest in techniques for improving security andauthentication of the identity of a user of such credit and debit cards.In particular, the streamlining of transactions has led to theproliferation of credit card readers which read information from amagnetic stripe formed on a surface of a credit card and which are oftenintegrated with point-of-sale terminals such as cash registers and fuelpumps. In such cases, it is left to the customer to manipulate the cardthrough the reader where the card is read and, in some cases, the readinformation is used to automatically print a memorandum of thetransaction for signature by the customer to complete the transaction.In other cases, such as transactions at fuel pumps, no action is takenby sales personnel at all and the transaction is completed automaticallybased only on the information read from the credit card and with noverification of customer identity. In such streamlining of transactionsthe principal amount of time and effort saved is at the expense of thesmall and possibly unreliable but very important safeguard provided bythe opportunity for sales personnel to at least compare the signature ofa customer on a sales memorandum with the signature on the credit cardto authenticate customer identity and possibly detect unauthorized useof the credit card. Nevertheless, loss of this important securityfeature is evidently considered by the public, merchants and financialinstitutions to be more than balanced by the capability for worldwide,near real-time tracking of credit card use and usage profiling providedby the reading of credit card data and immediate communication tofinancial institutions to accept or reject any individual transaction aswell as the expediting of transactions and the continuity of possessionof the credit card by the customer. On the other hand, the monitoring ofcredit card transactions and transaction profiling may also causerejection of transactions which are, in fact, legitimate such as thoseof a person who may travel only infrequently, causing attemptedtransactions while traveling to be rejected since the identity of thecredit card user cannot be authenticated based on magnetic stripeinformation and temporally proximate transactions at remote locations,as might occur due to transactions immediately before and after airtravel, may lead to an inference of credit card theft.

Recent advances in semiconductor technology, particularly extremely thinsubstrates, has also allowed chips to be fabricated with substantialmechanical flexibility and robustness adequate for inclusion ofelectronic circuits of substantial complexity within convenientlycarried cards physically similar to credit cards currently in use. Suchtechnology has also allowed records of substantial information contentto be similarly packaged and associated with various articles, livingorganisms or persons such as maintenance records for motor vehicles ormedical records for humans or animals. In regard to increase of securityfor financial transactions however, various attempts to increasesecurity through improved identity authentication or disablement in caseof theft or other misuse, while large in number and frequently proposedhave not, until recently, proven adequate for the purpose.

However, a highly secure credit or debit card design has been recentlyinvented and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,050 B2, issued Nov. 4,2003, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the entiredisclosure of which is hereby fully incorporated by reference fordetails of implementation thereof. In summary, the secure credit/debitcard disclosed therein includes a keyboard or other selective data entrydevice, a free-running oscillator, an array of electronic fuses(e-fuses) or other non-volatile memory, a processor, a pair of linearfeedback shift registers (LFSRs) and a transmitter/receiver to allowcommunication with an external card reader. The card is uniquelyidentified by a unique identification number and the programming ofe-fuses which control feedback connections for each of the LFSRs, one ofwhich is used as a reference and the other is used in the manner of apseudo-random number generator, the card identification number and thefeedback connections together forming a pre-initialized personalityconfiguration of the card. The card is activated only for short periodsof time sufficient to complete a transaction by entry of a personalidentification number (PIN) that can also be permanently programmed intothe card. When the card is activated and read by a card reader, the twosequences of numbers generated by the LFSRs are synchronously generatedand a portion thereof is communicated to a reader which not onlyauthenticates the number sequences against each other and the cardidentification number but also rejects the portion of the sequence if itis the same portion used in a previous transaction to guard againstcapture of the sequences by another device. This system providescombined authentication of the holder/user and the card, itself,together with encryption of transaction information unique to each cardwhich renders the card useless if stolen while providing highlyeffective protection against simulation and/or duplication of the cardor capture of information from it and has proven highly effective inuse.

However, in its preferred form and to obtain the highest levels ofsecurity, a special reader including a complementary receiver andtransmitter is required to, in effect, allow direct communication inreal-time between the secure credit card and the authenticationprocessor at the financial institution or other authorization facility.While such special readers may be manufactured in quantity anddistributed at relatively low cost and do not require a change in thecommunication system for reporting authentication and transactioninformation to a financial institution, the number of communications maycause some noticeable delay in completion of transactions. Further,implementing the system of the above-incorporated patent may require anextended period of time and the special readers may be subject to somedegree of wear or damage in use which may compromise the functionalitythereof. Such a compromise of functionality may reduce the acceptabilityof the secure credit/identification card system and cause erroneousrejection of transactions, particularly when it is considered thatnumber sequences of significant length must be communicated error-freein order to authorize a transaction. Provision of power to support eventhe relatively rudimentary communications involved with theabove-incorporated secure credit/identification card has also presentedrelatively intractable problems compromising reliability when in use.

So-called near field communication (NFC) systems have recently becomeknown and standards therefor have recently been ratified. In accordancewith that standard, NFC systems are limited to a range of only about 10cm and are capable of a bit transfer rate of 424 kilobits per secondusing a carrier frequency of 13.56 MHz. Similarly to radio frequencyidentification (RFID) systems (on which the new NFC standard is based) Aprincipal function contemplated for NFC devices is the capacity tointerrogate them in a passive mode in which they consume no power and tohave a unique code previously stored therein rapidly and reliablyreturned in a manner which does not interfere with other wirelesscommunications and which minimizes or avoids interference therefromwhenever such an interrogation is made. Accordingly, NFC systemstransmit information by inductive electromagnetic coupling in the radiofrequency portion of the spectrum. The NFC standard also provides forsoftware which enables nearly instantaneous peer-to-peer network setup.NFC devices thus effectively seek each other and establish acommunication link between themselves in sharp contrast to, for example,so-called Bluetooth enabled devices in which, while also intended forshort range peer-to-peer communications, set up procedures are complexand extended, largely to establish device configuration which isunnecessary in NFC systems. This networking facility is in sharpcontrast to RFID systems which are set up in a master/slave relationshipin which usually passive chips or transponders are read by relativelyexpensive, powered reader devices having a range of about two to fivemeters. NFC systems also differ from other types of known wirelesscommunication systems such as so-called “Wi-Fi systems which generallyrequire an access hub. Further, NFC devices can be set to either anactive or passive mode such that identification data can be sent evenwhen the device is off and consuming no power. Even in an active mode,the range of NFC devices is so small that very little power is consumed,Accordingly, NFC devices have been implemented in single chips and chipsets for a wide variety of applications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide analternative communication arrangement for communications incident totransaction using a secure credit/identification card and which does notrequire a specialized card reader.

It is another object of the invention to provide an alternative and/ortransitional communication infrastructure for use with theabove-incorporated secure credit card.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an arrangement foradapting current credit card readers to accommodate communications witha secure credit card similar to that disclosed in the above incorporatedpatent.

It is yet another object of the present invention to improve speed ofcommunications and establishment of communication links and to provideimproved reliability of communications for providing a high degree ofsecurity for transactions such as financial and identificationtransactions.

In order to accomplish these and other objects of the invention, thereis provided, in combination, a near field communication device,including memory for storing information to be returned uponinterrogation thereof; and an arrangement for nulling a portion of saidmemory upon expiration of a selected period of time.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a secure card andsystem including a secure card is provided wherein the card comprises acard body which incorporates a microprocessor device, a read only memorydevice and a secure linear feedback shift register, the microprocessordevice being interfaced to the read only memory device containing apre-initialized personality configuration being comprised of both aunique card identification and a customized secure linear feedback shiftregister initial configuration, a reference linear feedback shiftregister incorporated in said card body and synchronized to the securelinear feedback shift register, a security code generator incorporatedin the card body and producing a security code utilizing the securelinear feedback shift register providing outputs which, when combinedwith the card identification, produce a security code uniquely basedupon said pre-initialized personality configuration accessible by themicroprocessor; and a communication interface incorporated in the cardbody and connected to the microprocessor device for providing aninput/output message function of the secured information between themicroprocessor and an agent outside the secure card body, saidcommunication interface further including a near field communicationdevice.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a method ofcommunicating secure transaction information is provided comprisingsteps of selectively engaging a near field communication device in asecure transaction card, upon engagement of said near fieldcommunication device, generating secure transaction information, storingthe secure transaction information in a memory for transmission by thenear field communication device, and nulling a portion of the memoryupon transmission of the secure transaction information or uponexpiration of a selected period of time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will be betterunderstood from the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a preferred form of the secure credit cardand a schematic depiction of operative elements contained within asecure credit card in accordance with the present invention,respectively,

FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams of communication systems in accordancewith the present invention, and

FIGS. 4 and 5 form a flow chart illustrating preferred operation of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1A and 1B,there is shown a secure credit card similar (and possibly identicalexternally) to that disclosed in the above-incorporated patent. Itshould be recognized that while the preferred environment and use of thepresent invention is in connection with financial transactions in amanner similar to the well-known use of credit or debit cards, such cardstructures may be used for many purposes such as personal identificationand for obtaining controlled access to secure areas or apparatus such asmachinery or data processing systems or resources; exemplary types ofwhich are discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/______(Attorney's docket Number FIS920040206-00750493AA), assigned to theassignee of the present invention and hereby fully incorporated byreference. It is therefore to be understood that the term “credit card”as used hereinafter is intended to comprehend and be a collectivereference to all such and similar uses of such structures. Similarly,the term “transaction card” may be used to indicate possible use foreither financial or access authorization transactions or both.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the secure credit card 100 in accordance with theinvention physically resembles a conventional credit card of a typecurrently in use but includes input and display features somewhatsimilar to calculator devices which are currently available havingsimilar dimension to a credit card. That is, the secure credit cardpreferably includes photocells 110 which may be one of severalalternative power sources (e.g. a battery, external power contactsand/or an inductive power coupling arrangement which could also oralternatively be provided to supply charge to a rechargeable powersource such as a small battery or capacitor within the card. A single ormultiple digit/character display 120 is preferably provided to displayprompts to a user. As an input device, numeric keypad 130 and/or adynamic key 140 (with single character/digit display) are included,preferably as membrane switches to achieve a very small thickness and adegree of flexibility as well as resistance to physical damage. A statusindicator 150 may be provided in addition or alternatively to display120. Provision of only a status indicator or a dynamic key is consideredto be more secure (since it does not display input data which might beseen by a person other than a user or only a single character/digit at atime which may not be the character/digit selected) but may not providea user with information to correct an input error during an input. Ifkeypad 130 is used, some or all keys may be multifunction keys (e.g. toprovide yes or no responses during certain operational states) or evenused dynamically in conjunction with a display.

FIG. 1B schematically depicts the internal elements of secure creditcard 100. Most of the elements depicted and their operation andcooperation are discussed in detail in the above-incorporated U.S. Pat.No. 6,641,050 and a summary thereof herein will be sufficient to enablepractice of the invention by those skilled in the art. Central to theoperation of the secure credit card is a processor 115 which receivesdirectly from e-fuses 125 and from linear feedback shift registers(LFSRs) 135. Feedback paths in LFSRs 135 which cause them to operate asunique pairs of pseudo-random sequence generators are also controlled bye-fuses 125. Processor 115 also receives inputs from keyboard unit 145,discussed in regard to various suitable forms 130, 140 thereof, above.When the secure credit card is activated by, for example, input of apersonal identification number (PIN) or code which authenticates theuser to the card, the LFSRs 135 generate an identification code for thecard and preferably a pair of synchronized sequences of pseudo-randomnumbers, one used as a reference and the other to authenticate the cardto the authorization system and possibly other transaction-specificinformation which can optionally or alternatively be supplied by a cardreader or other point-of-sale apparatus. These signals are then placedin a desired transmission format (e.g. with other signals such as packetheader(s)) and transmitted directly or stored for transmission uponinterrogation by the transaction authorization system. The output ofprocessor 115 is provided to a transmitter/output driver 175. All ofthese elements receive power from a power supply unit 165 which may beprovided in a plurality of different forms, as discussed above.

In accordance with the invention, an additional near fieldcommunications element 185 a is also selectively provided in parallelwith transmitter/output driver 175 through an arrangement depicted asswitch 195 b; a preferred form of which will be described in greaterdetail below. Power is selectively provided thereto through anotherarrangement preferably provided by additional functions of processor 115but schematically depicted here as switch 195 a. The secure credit card100 is thus provided with an additional communication path with a cardreader 200 which is equipped or retrofit with a complementary NFC device185 b installed therein and/or with a communication path to anothercommunication device 210 such as a cell phone, personal digitalassistant (PDA), palmtop or laptop computer and the like which may beequipped or retrofit with an NFC device 185 c installed therein. Theseadditional communication paths provide for at least two systemarchitectures, and variations thereof, which support numerous additionalmodes of use with attendant improvement of security for varyingcircumstances as well as accommodating the secure credit card byalternative communication devices or inexpensively retrofit and upgradedexisting card readers; some exemplary forms of which will now bediscussed with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a first preferred system architecture isschematically illustrated. This architecture is similar to that depictedin FIG. 2 of concurrently filed U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/______ (Attorney's Docket number FIS920040338US1-00750496AA) which isassigned to the assignee of the present invention and fully incorporatedby reference in its entirety. That system provided an alternative andtransitional communication arrangement for authenticating users andauthorizing transactions using either a conventional magnetic stripecredit card or universal credit card by writing secure transaction andauthentication information on a magnetic stripe thereof or normal creditcard transactions using a conventional magnetic stripe credit card usinga secure credit card holder functioning in much the same manner as thesecure credit card of the above-incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,050 butcommunicating with a secure card processor through a separatecommunication device 210 such as a cell phone, PDA or computer having awireless (or wired) connection, possibly through a network. Inaccordance with the present invention, In accordance with the presentinvention, however, communication link 215 is made wireless and the linkis created and the communication conducted by simply, having activatedthe secure credit card, passing it in close proximity to the separatecommunication device 210. Similarly, communication link 225 to cardreader 220 is created and the communication conducted simply by passingthe secure credit card in close proximity to the card reader 220.Therefore, it is not necessary to physically read a magnetic stripe onthe card or create a communication link by placing the secure creditcard in or passing it through a reading location such as slot 230 incard reader 220 since the invention selectively provides for a link tobe made to an agent outside the secure card body through an NFC device.It should also be understood in regard to the present invention that thecommunication path through communication device 210,transmitter/receiver 240, secure card processor 250 to transactionprocessor 260 may be used to the exclusion of the communication paththrough card reader 220 and transaction processor 260 to secure cardprocessor 250 or vice-versa or the two paths may be used together,depending on security aspects of the transaction (e.g. security of thelocation in which the card must be activated), transitional state of theauthentication system between use of conventional cards and use of thesecure credit card of the above-incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,050 orthat of the present invention, required expeditiousness of thetransaction and other like concerns. For example, the secure credit cardin accordance with the invention can be activated and authentication ofthe card and user performed (as will be described in detail below) wellbefore reaching the point of sale which may be crowded and security thusreduced or, alternatively, if merchant information can be input to thesecure credit card in accordance with the invention prior to reachingthe point of sale, the transaction can be substantially completedwithout use of card reader 220 and very little, if any, action requiredat a point-of-sale. Thus, the system architecture of FIG. 2 providessubstantial flexibility in the manner in which a transaction can beconducted and accommodates a wide variety of transitional states ofimplementing or upgrading the communication infrastructure in order toaccommodate secure credit cards of the type disclosed in theabove-incorporated patent or the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 3, another system architecture which providestransitional and transactional advantages in some common circumstanceswill now be discussed. In this case, card reader 220′ represents apotentially unattended point-of-sale terminal such as a commodity (e.g.gasoline) dispenser, automated check-out terminal or securitycheck-point (e.g. a point of access to a secured facility or apparatus).In this case, once the card 100 was activated by entry of a PIN or otheraction to authenticate a user to the card, an NFC link 270 is formedsimply by passing the card 100 in the proximity of the card readerportion of the point-of-sale device 220′, whereupon requiredcommunications are conducted with or between the secure card processor250 or the transaction processor 260 or both. This architecture providesthe transitional advantage that the use of conventional credit cards orknown NFC devices (e.g. so-called speed passes which are associated withexisting credit card accounts) can be accommodated as they are currentlythrough communication with only transaction processor 250 whiletransactions using the secure credit card in accordance with theinvention or that of U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,050 can be authenticated andauthorized by communication with secure card processor 250 which mayeither complete the transaction internally or provide secureauthentication information to conventional transaction processor 260 tocomplete the transaction. It is contemplated that as use of the securecredit card in accordance with the invention or U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,050becomes more widespread, more transaction processing will be graduallytransferred to secure card processor 250 while transaction processing inconventional transaction processor 260 is gradually phased out. In anycase, use of the secure credit card in accordance with the presentinvention will improve reliability of communications over time byavoiding mechanical contact with a card reader and improve speed ofcommunications and establishment of communication links through use ofNFC communications.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, operation of the secure credit cardusing NFC in accordance with the invention and additional meritoriouseffects and security features supported thereby will now be discussed.Starting at step 400 (which may involve actuation of a key or detectableevent, or not, as may be desired), the secure credit card operation isinitiated by entering the PIN of the user (which may be varied asdisclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/______ (Attorney'sDocket FIS920040207US1-00750494AA) assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention and fully incorporated by reference) at step 401. Atstep 402, it is assumed for purposes of this discussion that the NFCfeature or chip of the secure credit card in accordance with the presentinvention is not engaged and the user is prompted to indicate if it isdesired to engage NFC. As will be discussed, the operation of the securecredit card of the present invention is arranged to automaticallydisengage or be disabled after a time-out period to reduce thepossibility of capture of data therefrom although substantial safeguardsagainst use of captured data are also provided in accordance with theabove-incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,050. If not, or if there is noresponse to the prompt, the process exits at step 403. However, if theNFC feature of the present invention is to be engaged, two pseudo-randomnumbers or sequences thereof, alluded to above are generated at step 404and the secure credit card information including the card identificationnumber and the two pseudo-random number or sequences forming securetransaction information are loaded into memory in the NFC chip at step405. This storage, generally provided in an NFC chip under currentstandards, allows the NFC chip to be interrogated while in a passiveoperational mode to cause delivery of the stored information. Whileinterrogation in a passive mode is provided by known NFC chips, thatfunction provides the additional advantage in the current invention ofsubstantially avoiding power consumption, at least by the NFC chip (inwhich power consumption is minimal in any event) during a period betweenthe time the chip is activated and generates security information andthe time that information may be communicated to a transactionauthentication system as discussed above in connection with FIGS. 2 and3.

As illustrated in FIG. 5 (reached through cardinal point 2) the user isprompted as to whether active NFC operation should be initiated. ActiveNFC operation allows, in the arrangement of FIG. 2, for example, for acommunication with a further communication device 210 to be initiatefrom the secure credit card itself by bringing the secure credit cardwithin NFC range thereof rather than upon interrogation from such adevice. This can be particularly useful when a transaction is to beperformed partially or fully without involvement of a point-of-saleterminal or the like. This feature of the invention allows for thesecurity information to be created, communicated, and destroyed in avery short period of time to reduces the possibility of capture of suchinformation to a vanishingly small level. That is, active operation canbe initiated and security data sent at step 502 and the NFC storage or aportion thereof reset to null at step 503 in a matter of a few secondsor less. Nulling the storage of the security information may be viewedas opening switch 195 b alluded to above in connection with FIG. 1B.Since the storage of the NFC chip is reset to null after transmission,later interrogation, regardless of operational mode will causetransmission of, at most, the card identification code but not thepseudo-random information; clearly indicating that no transaction isintended or requested. The user is then prompted to exit at 504 and, ifso the process exits at step 403 reached through cardinal point 1. Ifthe user does not wish to exit but wishes to re-engage the NFC chip, theprocess continues with step 402, reached through cardinal point 3.

If, however, the user wished, at step 501, to enter the passive mode ofoperation, the process would branch to step 505 in order to do so. Theinvention preferably establishes a default or previously set time periodin which passive communication can occur upon interrogation of the NFCchip. This period is preferably short since security data including thepseudo-random data can be captured from the secure credit card duringthis period. However, it is considered that no significant orunjustified security risk is presented since another interrogating NFCdevice would need to be brought within the NFC range of less than 10 cmin order to perform such an interrogation. Even if such a feature is notprovided, the transaction would cause rejection of the same securitydata sequences in an attempted subsequent transaction. On the otherhand, providing for storage of security information for a limited periodof time allows the card to be activated under circumstances of theuser's choosing to minimize capture of other information such as by thesurreptitious reading of the secure credit card display by otherpersons. It should be appreciated that imposing a limited time periodduring which interrogation can be performed is diametrically contrary tothe principal function generally intended for NFC devices.

Returning to FIG. 5, the user is prompted to change the wait time at506. This could be done in conjunction with display of a currently setor default wait time, as desired. If the wait time is to be changed(e.g. to correspond to an anticipated time of arrival at a point-of-saleterminal) that function is performed at step 507. In any case, theprocess continues with step 508 in which the security data istransmitted upon interrogation or the passive mode including retentionof stored data is maintained for the set wait period. Then, when thesecurity data is transmitted or the set wait period expires, the storageis nulled at step 503 and the user is again prompted to exit at 504.This looping to 503 allows the wait time period to be reset, with orwithout selective alteration of the wait time period, using newlygenerated secure transaction information. To alert the user to thepossibility of capture of secure information, the user is preferablynotified of any transmission 508 to avoid any possible ambiguity betweenunauthorized capture of the secure data and time-out; both of whichcause nulling of the stored secure data in the NFC.

In view of the foregoing, it is seen that the use of an NFC device incombination with a secure credit card providing user and cardauthentication and unique pseudo-random security data providesadditional flexibility in transactions, improved communication speed andreliability and several transaction authentication and authorizationarchitectures which may be particularly useful and economicallydesirable during transitional periods as the system accommodating suchsecure credit cards is implemented. No specialized card reader isrequired but only the use or retrofitting of a known, commerciallyavailable NFC device in the secure credit card.

While the invention has been described in terms of a single preferredembodiment, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

1. (canceled)
 2. A secure card comprising: a card body whichincorporates a microprocessor device, a read only memory device and asecure linear feedback shift register, the microprocessor device beinginterfaced to the read only memory device containing a pre-initializedpersonality configuration, said pre-initialized personalityconfiguration being comprised of both a unique card identification and acustomized secure linear feedback shift register initial configuration;a reference linear feedback shift register incorporated in said cardbody and synchronized to the secure linear feedback shift register; asecurity code generator incorporated in said card body and producing asecurity code utilizing said secure linear feedback shift register, saidsecure linear feedback shift register being driven by a commonfree-running clock oscillator and providing outputs which, when combinedwith the card identification, produce a security code uniquely basedupon said pre-initialized personality configuration, said security codebeing accessible by the microprocessor; and a communication interfaceincorporated in said card body and connected to said microprocessordevice, said communication device providing an input/output messagefunction of secured information including said security code between themicroprocessor and an agent outside said secure card body, saidcommunication interface further including a near field communicationdevice for transmitting information by inductive electromagneticcoupling over a range of ten inches at a radio frequency and automaticpeer-to-peer network setup without requiring establishment of deviceconfiguration and which can be set to an active or passive mode.
 3. Asecure transaction card as recited in claim 2, wherein said near fieldcommunication device includes storage means for storing said securedinformation to be returned upon interrogation thereof, and furthercomprising means for nulling a portion of said storage means uponexpiration of a selected period of time or upon transmission thereof. 4.A secure transaction card as recited in claim 3, further including meansfor indicating return of said secured information in response to a saidinterrogation.
 5. A secure transaction card as recited in claim 2,further including means for indicating transmission of said securedinformation, and means for nulling a portion of said storage means uponexpiration of a selected period of time.
 6. A secure transaction systemincluding a secure transaction card including a card body whichincorporates a microprocessor device, a read only memory device and asecure linear feedback shift register, the microprocessor device beinginterfaced to the read only memory device containing a pre-initializedpersonality configuration, said pre-initialized personalityconfiguration being comprised of both a unique card identification and acustomized secure linear feedback shift register initial configuration;a reference linear feedback shift register incorporated in said cardbody and synchronized to the secure linear feedback shift register; asecurity code generator incorporated in said card body and producing asecurity code utilizing said secure linear feedback shift register, saidsecure linear feedback shift register being driven by a commonfree-running clock oscillator and providing outputs which, when combinedwith the card identification, produce a security code uniquely basedupon said pre-initialized personality configuration, said security codebeing accessible by the microprocessor; and a communication interfaceincorporated in said card body and connected to said microprocessordevice, said communication device providing an input/output messagefunction of the secured information between the microprocessor and anagent outside said secure card body, said communication interfacefurther including a near field communication device for transmittinginformation by inductive electromagnetic coupling over a range of teninches at a radio frequency and automatic peer-to-peer network setupwithout requiring establishment of device configuration and which can beset to an active or passive mode, and a complementary near fieldcommunication device for transmitting information by inductiveelectromagnetic coupling over a range of ten inches at a radio frequencyand automatic peer-to-peer network setup without requiring establishmentof device configuration and which can be set to an active or passivemode for forming a communication link for communication with at leastone of a transaction processor and a secure card processor.
 7. A securetransaction system as recited in claim 6 wherein said complementary nearfield communication device is associated with a card reader.
 8. A securetransaction system as recited in claim 7 wherein said card reader isassociated with a point-of-sale terminal.
 9. A secure transaction systemas recited in claim 6 wherein said complementary near fieldcommunication device is associated with a wireless communication device.10. A secure transaction system as recited in claim 9 wherein saidwireless communication device is one of a cell phone, a personal digitalassistant, or a portable computer. 11-20. (canceled)